Father
by iced-wine
Summary: Character study of Reishin and Kouyuu. Snippets of their life together.
1. Parting

The murmurs that infected the court didn't escape Reishin. People were muttering none-so-discreetly amongst each other, which was catalyzed, no doubt, by his words, the weight of which still hung in the air:

"This is my adopted son, Li Kouyuu."

Their insolent chatter annoyed Reishin. This unworthy and mindless judgment, he knew it well.

It's been a year since he picked the boy off the streets, yet still this presentation might be too early, but if he was to survive in the Kou family, he must be able to endure it.

Reishin looked back at the boy, whose unruly hair of aquamarine was checked by a white hair tie, and saw that carefully and painfully kept expressionless face. The boy was doing well, so well that only someone like Reishin was able to see the strained fear in his eyes.

Kouyuu breathed, shallowly, and willed himself to blink every three breaths. The curious gazes and hushed chatter bespoke of something even clearer than words: He was not worthy of Reishin-sama, he was not worthy to be his son, that is why he was not given the Kou family name, and everyone standing in this court knew it.

This would be one of his most unforgettable memories, this public and instantaneous declaration of his inadequacy.

There was a tentative knock on the door. Reishin looked up irately from the scroll he was reading, and hissed, "Enter."

A maid stepped in timidly, her head carefully bowed. Reishin noted the way she fidgeted her fingers within clasped hands, and waited for her to explain her intrusion.

"Excuse me, danna-sama, Kouyuu-dono has taken ill." The maid informed almost inaudibly.

The urge to roll his eyes was almost overcoming him. Honestly! The servants were getting dumber by the day. With complaints and official documents piling like pollen grains, did they really think he had the stamina to deal with this spectacular display of…incompetence!

"So call a doctor. I need not be disturbed with trivialities such as this." He snapped coldly.

The maid stood her ground for a moment, seeming to hesitate, but eventually bowed and took her leave. Reishin thought it strange that his orders were not obeyed instantly, but, with his desk still buried six inches deep in scrolls, he thought it best not to waste mental resources on such insignificant speculations.

At two hours past sunset a servant came and announced dinner. Reishin looked up, surprised by the darkness that met his gaze when he looked out the window.

Was it really night already? Funny the way time flies when one has to deal with idiots!He mused with a sardonic smile as he stepped into the dining hall. A single set of dinnerware sat waiting for him on the table.

"Where is Kouyuu?" He asked the servant standing in the let corner, his personal steward.

"Kouyuu-dono has taken ill, danna-sama." The servant replied politely.

Reishin's eyes narrowed. How odd! That boy has never been absent during dinner in all the time he has been here.

"Yes, I was informed of that already." He snapped. "Is he so infirm that he is unable to dine?"

The servant winced visibly, and the timbre of his voice trembled as he replied, "I was given to understand that Kouyuu-dono is running a high fever, danna-sama."

Reishin's chopsticks, which were on their way to the pepper and shredded pork, paused in midair. "Has a doctor not been summoned?" He demanded.

"A doctor is currently attending Kouyuu-dono, danna-sama."

"And his diagnosis?"

"I have not conferred with the doctor. If Your Excellency wishes I shall go right now."

Reishin frowned. "No, that's unnecessary. I'll go myself. It'll be troublesome if he died." He muttered with a roll of his eyes as he made for Kouyuu's bedroom.

Would it really be troublesome? When 'troublesome' was such a simple word?

"Kou…Kou Shousho…" An old man stammered as soon as Reishin crossed the threshold into Kouyuu's room.

Reishin glanced around the doctor, catching the boy's reclined body on the bed; a piece of wet cloth laid serenely across his forehead. The skin of his face looked flushed. Reishin redirected his gaze to the old doctor.

"How is he?" He demanded.

"Ah…well, it's…uh…most puzzling, Kouyuu-dono's condition is. He has taken medicine, but his fever has not subsided. I…" The doctor stuttered, all the while wiping sweat from his brows, which Reishin's scrutinizing gaze always had the effect of producing in people.

"You have not the slightest notion of how to proceed with his treatment. Am I correct in my assumption?" He flicked open his fan and sneered. "How long has his condition persisted?"

"Sin-since this a-afternoon, Kou Shousho."

This…afternoon?

A shadow crossed Reishin's face. The hand that held the fan tightened just slightly.

This afternoon…that was well over six hours ago…

What are these idiots thinking?

"Go fetch Tou Roushi from the palace." He ordered. "Oh, and kindly escort the honorable doctor back to his residence." So I can find and kill you later if anything happens to Kouyuu.

The doctor and the servants were gone. The room was silent save for the boy's uneven breaths. Reishin felt rather helpless, standing over the helpless boy on the bed. His years in the political arena had taught him only one way to deal with the weak—to weed them out, which would be inappropriate in this case, and therefore inapplicable.

Reishin sighed. Getting sick a week after he took him to court. Maybe this is some sort of a sign…

He smirked. Those idiots at court! How he wanted to strangle them all at that moment! Their accursed murmurs, their unforgivable doubt of the one whom he had chosen, enraged him.

Kouyuu stirred in the bed and moaned. Reishin looked over.

What to do? What to do?

The boy moaned again, louder this time. Reishin felt something akin to panic slither through his fingertips. But it cannot be, because he was Kou Reishin; Kou Reishin doesn't panic.

"Have you all been calcified?! The rag will not change itself, you realize!" He hissed out the door.

Again, _not_ panicking.

A skinny maid scurried in, her head almost parallel to the floor in her bow. "M-My apologies, danna-sama." She stammered.

Reishin glared at her, and his glared followed her all the while as she changed the white cloth on Kouyuu's forehead.

Too soon, the maid retreated, and Reishin was once again left alone with his adopted son. Of course he had the freedom to leave whenever he liked; he need not endure this discomfort. Yet there he was, rooted to the spot, gazing down at Kouyuu's sickly flushed face, even though the sight grinded against his senses.

It must be the tea he drank at Houju's place, another act of his petty vengeance. There was no other explanation for his present…irregularity of behavior. After all, it wasn't like Kou Reishin to force himself to do something he disliked.

Kouyuu shifted slightly, and the knuckles on the back of his hand, which clutched the cover, turned white.

God damn it! Where was Tou Roushi?

Tentatively, he reached own and touched the boy's cheek, and retracted it again in a swift motion. Even with as little medical knowledge as he had, Reishin knew that when the temperature is burning to the skin, it can't be good.

"Hmm…" Kouyuu turned, the motion toppling the cooling cloth to the floor. "Mmm…"

Reishin stared. The covers soon followed suit. Kouyuu's languishing hands, despite their frailty, tore open the front of his white sleeping robe, displaying the pale but flushed skin of his chest.

The boy looked pathetic, Reishin thought stubbornly, if pathetic was the word.

There was no one in the room now; perhaps it wouldn't be amiss to indulge…

Reishin bent down and picked up the fallen fabric, replacing it gently on the bed. Then, running his fingers softly across his son's burning chest, he grasped the silk of the white robe and pulled it gingerly shut.

Kouyuu caught his hand, its clamminess made the older man flinch, and tore open the collars again.

"Hot…" He murmured, and his voice broke, at the last moment, into something that sounded suspiciously like a sob.

A moment later the suspicions were confirmed. Kouyuu rolled onto his side, almost falling off the bed had Reishin not caught him, and began to cry, very softly, like a kitten crying for its mother in the wilderness.

The agony must be reaching unbearable levels, Reishin thought, for it to break the boy's control like this. But even now, in the depth of feverish unconsciousness, the child in him could still only give rise to the faintest of sobs.

Reishin sat down on the edge of the bed, recalling that his elder brother had done so at the time he had been sick, and patted Kouyuu's back gently.

Just when Reishin was settling into the routine, Kouyuu's eyes snapped open without warning, and stared directly into his own. Reishin's hand froze.

_Crap…_

But his fears were in vain; a second later the startling clarity of his son's eyes clouded over with a film of tears, and it became apparent that the boy was not really lucid. Reishin relaxed.

Then, through dry and burning lips, came the word, "Father…"

The boy's voice was soft, almost inaudible from the fever, yet Reishin heard the word as though it had been shouted. Something strange was overtaking him then, something dangerously similar to the paternal instincts he was certain he didn't possess.

"Reishin-sama, Tou Roushi is here." His personal steward announced in the doorway.

Reishin flinched, practically ejecting himself from Kouyuu's bed. A resemblance of a blush crept up to his cheeks. He snapped open his fan, using it to obscure the faint rouge on his face.

"Kou Shousho." Tou Roushi greeted with a bow.

When Tou Roushi looked up, Reishin had already repossessed himself, plastering on his countenance once more that cold and arrogant expression so characteristic of the Kou Shousho everyone knew.

"I trust this won't be too much trouble." Reishin cleared his throat, and said in the most conceited manner conceivable.

"Ah, well, I will do my be…"

"Excellent. There are still things urgently needing my attention, so I'll excuse myself and let you get on with the treatment." He cut in smoothly and waltzed out the door before Tou Roushi could make another sound.

Reishin made quickly for his office, walking at maximum speed without actually having to break into a run.

He was _definitely_ not discomposed because the little brat he had taken in just called him father.

He slammed the door of his study shut, perhaps a little too loudly to be calm, and made a beeline dash for his desk, which was still toppling with scrolls. Snatching one off the top, Reishin began reading. "From the Department of Foreign Relations: requesting increase in personnel of three persons on grounds of extreme shor—"

_…Hmmm…_

"on grounds of extreme shortage, furthermore—"

_…Hot…_

"furthermore, due to the recent tax cut—"

_…Father…_

Reishin threw down the scroll angrily, and began massaging his temple with his fingers. He wondered if this was one of those blessings of fatherhood that Shouka always talked about, this inability to concentrate on work because some little brat was running a fever a few doors down the hall.

Well, on that thought, wasn't it strange that even though he has been given medicine his fever hasn't gone down? And why were the servants so nervous when they reported his illness this afternoon? Was this just one of those ordinary fevers that children get from time to time, after all it was almost autumn, or was it something more serious, say, the forerunner of small pox? He had heard of people running high fevers before getting full-blown small pox. Oh dear heavens, what if it _was_ small pox?

Before he realized he was standing in the doorway of Kouyuu's bedroom, being greeted by the doctor and half a dozen maid's quizzical gaze.

"Kou Shousho, is something amiss?"

Well, my adopted son is running an inexplicable fever and is about to die of small pox…

Reishin flashed the doctor a blank stare.

"You look rather flushed." The doctor explained.

Reishin cleared his throat and whipped open his fan. "Tou Roushi, small pox is a very serious and infectious disease, how is it that you have not already declared a quarantine? Furthermore, shouldn't you be taking more drastic measures…" He declared accusatorily.

"Kou Shousho," The doctor interrupted his rant loudly, after a staring incomprehensibly at Reishin for several moments. "Kouyuu-dono is not suffering from small pox."

Just then Tou Roushi saw the most remarkable series of colors cycle through on Kou Reishin's face. Above the opened fan, which covered nearly half of Reishin's face, his skin went from an interesting shade of pale pink, like a cherry blossom just unfolding, to a fiery, darker pink, like the blossoms of a plum tree, then to a rather unusual shade of red that bore an uncanny resemblance of a rose in full bloom.

"Oh." Reishin croaked. Why didn't he remember that his musings had not a grain of medical basis?

"The resistance of Kouyuu-dono's fever" Tou Roushi, having been the palace physician for many years, ignored Reishin's awkwardness and continued. "is probably due the delay in treatment."

Reishin snapped out of his self-chastisement abruptly. "Delay in treatment? It's only been six hours…"

"Actually, according to your servants, the chill begun a week ago. Kouyuu-dono is young, he could appear perfectly fine for several days, and by my understanding," Tou Roushi eyed Reishin meaningfully. "it was his wish to do so. By now the chill has probably already migrated to his lungs, which is why his fever is so difficult to treat."

A week ago…could it be that he has been sick since the day they came back from the court?

He turned vengefully to the maid, who was Kouyuu's chief attendant, and demanded harshly, "Why was this not reported to me?"

The maid trembled and dropped to her knees immediately. Her voice shook as she made her reply, "A…a thousand apo-apologies, danna-sama. I was ordered by Kouyuu-dono not to say any-anything."

That little idiot….! Reishin thought as he gingerly massaged the bridge of his nose.

"Well, Tou Roushi, what's to be done?" He turned to the doctor, an exhausted expression hung on his face, and asked.

"I'm prescribing some medicine that will help with his fever." The doctor answered as he sat down by the table and wrote down the required herbs. "The elderberry and comfrey leaves can be purchased in herbal shops, although comfrey leaves have been in short supply lately…" He said to one of the maids. "Oh, and some succinum too."

"Succinum?" Reishin raised an eyebrow. "Is Kouyuu epileptic?"

"No. Succinum could be used for placating the mind as well. It seems the severity of Kouyuu-dono's condition is due partially to stress as well, small dosages of succinum would do well for his rest and recuperation."

"Oh." Reishin can't remember another night where he had felt stupid so many times.

"Well, I should be going then. There are still some things needing my care in the palace. Please excuse me, Kou Shousho." The doctor bowed respectfully and collected his medicine chest.

"Oh, and Kou Shousho," He called just as he was passing Reishin at the doorway. "You need not worry; Kouyuu-dono's condition is not fatal. He should be fine in a few days."

The rosy shade of red returned to Reishin's cheeks again. He could've sworn he saw a forcefully repressed smile in the doctor's eyes as he said those words to him.

Stress…huh? Reishin mused quietly as he sat at his desk, sorting through the mountain of scrolls. (The Department of Foreign Relations is not getting any additional personnel, nor are they getting an increase in budget, because both requests are unreasonable and _definitely not_ because he was pissed and worried about Kouyuu's stress-induced fever.) He leaned back into the chair.

Midnight struck over an hour ago. The servants must have all retired by now…

He rose, and walked swiftly toward Kouyuu's bedroom.

The lights were all out, just as he expected. Slowly, so as not to make a sound, he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Through the rice-paper windows, shafts of pale moonlight pooled on the floor just in front of the bed. The faint scent of herbal medicine whirled around him as Reishin stood over the sleeping boy.

He's still too young, Reishin thought regretfully, the murmurs of the court will crush him ruthlessly.

Of course he could just give Kouyuu the Kou family name and silence their tongues forever, but that would bring on a whole new array of troubles, perhaps more deadly than simple, malacious gossip.

Reishin heaved a sigh.

Shouka made it look so easy…or maybe he was simply incompetent…He thought as he returned to his study.

Reishin dabbed the brush in the inkwell, and began to dictate a letter to his brother, Kurou.

The rustle of robes made Reishin look up from his scroll. The sight of his adopted son standing in the doorway greeted him.

"You wanted to see me, Reishin-sama?" Kouyuu asked respectfully, and bowed.

"I take it your illness has improved?" He asked nonchalantly, his nonchalance afforded by the ceaseless and meticulous interrogations, which he had personally conducted, of all the servants that have attended Kouyuu for the last few days; there was no way he would repeat the error of being misinformed about his son's health again, he made sure the servants understood that.

Kouyuu flinched slightly at the mention of his recent sickness. Reishin-sama had not visited him, not once…

"Yes." He answered when the bitter taste in his mouth had receded; Reishin-sama would not be pleased if he cried.

"Very well. Go have the maid prepare your things, I'm sending you to my brother, Kurou, in Kou Province. You will complete your studies there until you are ready to take the Official Exam." Reishin forced himself to focus on the parchment before him and not look up to meet Kouyuu's eyes. "I've already sent a letter to my brother. He'll know what to do with you once you get there."

Kouyuu stood still for a moment, trying to stifle the growing sense of panic gnawing at him. Was Reishin-sama angry with him? Because he was sick? Because he hid the fact that he was sick? Why else would Reishin-sama want to send him away?

Mechanically, Kouyuu bowed, and uttered obediently, "Yes, Reishin-sama."

"You leave two days from now." His fingers were leaving permanent crease marks on the parchment, Reishin noted.

"Yes, Reishin-sama." Again came Kouyuu's hollow reply.

"You may go."

"Please excuse my intrusion." Kouyuu bowed deeply, and exited the room.

The silence left behind by Kouyuu's absence weighed heavily in the air. The parchment in Reishin's hand tore from the pressure of his clutch.

"This is for the best." Reishin chanted to himself. "It has to be this way."

At dawn, two days later, Reishin stood behind the open window, obscured from sight by the shadow of a column, and watched as his son ascended the carriage that would take him to the Kou Province.

Kouyuu turned around one last time, and searched the premise of the Kou manor for the familiar figure of his guardian. The compound was deserted save for the retinue of servants preparing for his departure.

As Reishin watched Kouyuu's figure disappear into the carriage compartment, the most peculiar feeling of desolation overcame him. Silently, with his hands twisting the fabric of his robe, he murmured his farewell.

The sun was just beginning to rise when the driver took the reins. Kouyuu glanced out the window. Behind one of the columns, where the shadows were shifting with the ascending sun, stood a figure, still partially hooded by the dewy darkness, clad in a white sleeping robe, with a cascading pool of unfastened hair of silk.

The carriage began moving. The sight, fleeting as the tumbling zephyr of spring, whirled into the blurred green of the passing trees, and dark stains of liquid spotted the cloth of Kouyuu's robe

Father… 


	2. Revenge

Half a bowl of rice, five pieces of pepper, three slices of shredded pork, and eight stalks of celery—Reishin counted when Kouyuu suddenly announced he was finished eating.

Was the foolish boy trying to deify himself through starvation? Because Reishin knew for a fact that nirvana was not reached this way…

"Is the food not to your liking?" He posed the question with the characteristic mockery he always used with people.

"No, the food is fine." Kouyuu stammered hurriedly.

"Know that when you are faint with hunger tomorrow morning, I will not deduct a single scroll from your workload."

"Yes, Reishin-sama." Kouyuu cast down his eyes and looked away. The reprimand had scratched a lot deeper than Reishin intended.

Reishin's eyes remained on the half-shadowed face of his adopted son a moment longer, trying to decipher the exact nature of his lack of appetite.

"May I be excused?" Kouyuu, feeling his guardian's prying eyes, ventured to ask.

Reishin peered at him. Now it's really odd, because usually Kouyuu would never (dare to) ask permission for something like that.

"Do as you please. I don't care either way." He replied at last, his tone just a twinge angrier than he liked.

Kouyuu stood, gave a slight bow, and hastily exited the dining hall, unaware that a pair of eyes followed him all the while until he disappeared behind a corner.

Reishin continued to poke at his bowl of rice for half an hour after Kouyuu had left. Maybe it was time to change chefs…he has had this one for fifteen years…maybe the workload was just a tad too much for Kouyuu to handle….or maybe the boy was in love…?

His thoughts came to a screeching halt on that note. He remembered the way Shouka was when he fell in love with Shoukun; the lovesick expression that hung on his face, which neither food nor sleep could ease…But who could it be? The boy hardly has time to go to the bathroom with his current workload (Reishin would know), and after work he comes straight home. So…one of the other shinshis perhaps? Or maybe a palace maid? Well, Kouyuu _does_ get lost very often, and it wouldn't be too far of a stretch if he just ended up in some back storage room with some lady-in-waiting…

Reishin frowned. Honestly! A palace maid! His son could definitely do better…but this was probably just a one-time thing, a trial to see what adulthood is like…

His brows smoothed out on that thought. Yes, just like a girl putting on rouge for the first time…

Wait! How does that explain the lack of interest in food?

Oh, maybe it wasn't very good. Or, maybe _he_ wasn't very good. That would explain the low spirits; Kouyuu's ego was bruised because he lacked skills in bed…

Reishin completely relaxed at that. That could be easily fixed; a few trips to some top rate brothels should do the trick. Now all that's left was to very subtly hint his wishes to that friend of Kouyuu's.

He smiled satisfactorily, glad that he had worked out such a flawless solution.

"Leave the leftovers in the kitchen tonight." He ordered the servant as he stood up to leave. He knew sometimes that Kouyuu had the habit of getting up in the middle of the night to eat. Perhaps later tonight his stomach might come to its senses…

"Danna-sama, would you like to keep the leftovers until noon, or can we throw it out?" his servant asked the next morning, when he came into the dining hall.

Reishin frowned. "Was it not eaten?"

The servant looked confused. Why would the leftovers be eaten? "It was not, danna-sama."

"Throw it out, then."

Once he had finished his work (passed it all, untouched, to Kouyuu), Reishin strolled casually into the eastern garden, which was right next to the palace guards' training ground. And very coincidentally, there was Ran Shuuei.

"Ran Shogun," He called. "I was wondering if I might have a word…"

"How is it, that the Senior Secretary of Civil Affairs has the leisure to visit the Department of Finance in the middle of the busiest month of imperial management?" Kijin inquired sardonically as Reishin strolled through the open doors of his office.

"Kouyuu is taking care of everything." Reishin answered nonchalantly with a wave of his fingers.

"Oh, I see. So while the new shinshi is crushed with an impossible workload, you wander around the palace aimlessly because you can afford the spare time?" Kijin snapped with a twinge of resentment (just a twinge, because he is _not_ jealous of Reishin, the cold and arrogant bastard that he was, because Reishin has a new slave on whom all official work can be dumped, while he didn't).

"Hah…" Reishin scoffed, accepting the cup of tea offered by his friend's assistant, Yuuri. "Say what you will. I've worked hard for ten years. It's about time I get a break."

Behind his mask, Kijin sneered. "You do realize, as a government official, especially one with as high a rank as yourself, you are supposed to work hard the _whole_ time you are in office."

Reishin smiled, and whipped open his fan. "That applies only to idiots."

The brush in Kijin's hand was about to snap in half from the pressure of his irritation. Better not murder the Senior Secretary of Civil Affairs right here in his office; people might get suspicious…

Sensing the murderous (extremely non-figurative) rage emanating from his superior, Yuuri commented quickly with a nervous smile, "Well, you seem to be in a good mood today, Kou Shousho." At least good enough to let one of Houju's snide remarks slide without a fuss. "What's the occasion?"

Reishin smiled, remembering the conversation he had with Ran Shuuei that morning. The Ran boy was smarter than he'd expected, he mused fondly.

He just knew. He just _knew_ that when his pervert of a friend offered, out of the nonexistent goodness of his even more nonexistent heart, to walk him home, something was bound to go wrong.

"Shuuei, this doesn't look like my house…" He managed to grind, relatively calmly, out of his throat with twitching brows.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that we are taking a slight detour?" Ran Shuuei, fighting the urge to burst out laughing, replied as lightly and innocently as he could.

Kouyuu's face lost its composure at that instant. "A _slight_ detour? TO THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" He exploded at the top of his lungs. Passerby stopped in their tracks, and turned to stare at the sudden commotion, trying to divulge the identity of the murder victim, as a shout this loud could indicate nothing short of murder.

"Shh…calm yourself, Kouyuu, you wouldn't want anyone we know to see…" Shuuei consoled smoothly, completely unfazed by the murderous vibe coming from his friend.

Kouyuu closed his mouth abruptly, and looked fearfully around.

Looking at his friend's frantic gestures, Shuuei wanted to laugh.

Nobody would see them, and even if someone did, no one would care, but of course Kouyuu, being the adorably ignorant prude that he was, wouldn't know that.

"This is ridiculous. I'm going home." Kouyuu declared.

Shuuei cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? You really think you, who can get lost as long as the destination is over thirty paces away, can find your way back to the Kou manor from the Red Light District?" He smirked. "Well, be my guest. I wonder what Reishin-sama would say if you were late for work tomorrow morning because you couldn't find your way back in time…"

He watched with satisfaction as Kouyuu's face blanched at that thought.

Reishin was in the middle of his letter to Kurou when he noticed his personal steward in the doorway, waiting for a chance to speak.

"What is it?" He asked without looking up.

"I apologize for the intrusion, danna-sama. Kouyuu-dono has taken ill. Shall I fetch Tou Roushi?" The servant bowed and asked respectfully.

Reishin's brush paused, resuming a moment later when he replied, "Yes. Do that."

The servant gave another bow, and left.

Reishin put down the brush, and leaned back into the chair. The complacency he felt for the last few days entirely dissipated. He had learned over the years that Kouyuu's immune system took an inevitable vacation every time something was bothering him; like the time he ran a fever after being taken to court, or the time he got the stomach flu right after the Official Exam.

He wondered what it was this time. It's not the workload, because Kouyuu was handling the work just fine (but Reishin would never admit that to another living soul…). It's not sex, because Kouyuu had come into the office, after having stayed out all night, several times with dark circles under his eyes. (although unbeknownst to Reishin, those resulted from Kouyuu's night-long efforts in attempting to pry the woman, whose arms had the remarkable stickiness of an octopus, off of him and explain (convince) her that he liked his pants the way it was—that is, on his body—just fine.)

So what could it be? Reishin wondered during the carriage ride form the Kou manor to the palace, all the way through the morning as he dealt with the various requests and complaints that Kouyuu's absence forced him to deal with, and on the way from the Department of Civil Affairs to the Department of Finance during lunch.

"You are remarkably free even though Kouyuu is taking sick leave today." Kijin remarked as soon as Reishin stepped into his office, although he knew that, in reality, Reishin was more capable than anyone else, if only he could work up the stamina to not be so lazy (and arrogant, annoying, calculating…but those should be saved for another time).

"How do you know Kouyuu's sick?" There was way too much irritation in Reishin's tone for such a simple question, Kijin noted.

"I was in the vicinity when your servant came to get Tou Roushi." He explained calmly.

Reishin tapped his fan in his hand, feeling his irritation mounting to new levels as the subject, with which he had been occupied all morning, returned to him.

"Well, it's rather understandable," Yuuri joined in as he set down a cup of tea for Reishin. "after what Sai Shousho said the other day." Yuuri, who had heard about Kouyuu's pattern of illness from Houju (who had heard it from Reishin himself when he absentmindedly commented that Kouyuu was almost as bad at holding his stress as he was holding his liquor), commented. Although, he and Houju both had difficulty understanding how was it that Reishin, as perspicacious as he was, failed to see that Kouyuu only got sick when his worries were somehow related to Reishin.

Now Reishin was genuinely confused. "Sai Shousho? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Ah, you haven't heard?" Half the palace was talking about it, Yuuri knew that, because half the palace would _have_ to be talking about it for him, the Assistant Secretary of Finance, to hear of it.

Reishin flashed him a blank stare, and Yuuri noted with amazement that it was without his usual mocking cynicism.

"It seems that Sai Shousho, while teasing Kouyuu-dono during lunch several days ago, called him an abandoned child," Yuuri paused. "in front of all the officials present, which is to say the Senior and Assistant Secretaries of at least four departments." That is, all except the Department of Civil Affairs and the Department of Finance, as Kouyuu was the one being insulted, Reishin was with Kijin, who never joined the other officials during lunch, and Yuuri himself was probably serving the two.

Reishin's eyes narrowed, and the light in them became eerily sharp. "Oh, really…"

"I guess we will be seeing Kou Shousho at Shou Taishi's banquet next month for sure." Yuuri commented that afternoon, after Reishin had left in a flurry (rage).

"Most likely." Houju conceded without looking up from his work.

"We should probably advise him to search all guests for weapons. Although whether Kou Shousho would murder Sai Shousho in public is still a matter of uncertainty."

"No, but we should probably prepare a few vials of antidote before attending, in case Reishin decides to poison us all in a failsafe effort to get back at Sai Shousho." Behind the mask, Houju's voice remained flat.

Yuuri chuckled nervously. "That's not funny, Houju." Because Kou Shousho might really pull something like that…

Reishin was in the middle of another letter to Kurou, requesting to borrow one of his ninjas, when his steward informed him of Tou Roushi's diagnosis: Acute Bronchitis.

Acute Bronchitis in the middle of summer…oh, this is going to cost you very, _very_ dearly, Sai Shousho…

At that moment, servants throughout the manor thought they heard the crackling sound of a brush being crushed coming from the master's study, and the summer air around them became just a few degrees cooler.

Kouyuu bowed, for the nth time that night, to some official whose name and rank he had already forgotten. There were certainly perks in being the adopted child of the Senior Secretary of Civil Affairs, and attending social banquets, where officials of all ranks gathered, was definitely not one of them. Yet the most frightening thing tonight was not the constant array of people coming to pay their respects to his father, although his having to bow back to every one of them did rank top three; rather, it was his guardian's eerily happy mood that terrified Kouyuu the most, because whenever Reishin-sama was abnormally happy and non-irritated with the "idiots" (Reishin's exact words) that surrounded him, it's a sure omen that something _very_ bad is about to happen.

"What's with the long face, Kouyuu? Do you not find the banquet amusing?" Reishin purred, his voice so smooth it practically dripped honey.

Kouyuu felt the hair on the back of his neck stiffen. "Yes, Reishin-sama, quite." He mumbled.

Out of the corner of his eye (honestly, how can one miss something as wide as that thing?), Reishin caught the approaching figure of his target. With a devious grin, he flipped open his fan, and, hiding his face behind it, whispered to Kouyuu, "Well, it's about to get _a lot_ more amusing."

Kouyuu winced. He just knew it…Reishin-sama was about to pull something very shocking and impolite.

As though cued by his thoughts, Sai Shousho's figure leveled with Reishin's at that exact moment. Kouyuu saw a slight shift in his father's posture, and the next thing he knew, Sai Shousho's robes were flurrying in the act of crashing to the floor. Instinctively, Kouyuu reached out in an attempt to steady him…

A dead silence ensued in the banquet hall, in which only the sound of a cackling flame could be heard. Then suddenly, the loud roar of collective laughter exploded.

"I can't believe that guy…" Houju sighed, looking unsympathetically at Sai Shousho's frantic person in the middle of the banquet hall, before turning away to get more tea.

The triumphant smirk on Reishin's face didn't fade during the whole carriage ride back from the Shou manor. When he extended his foot, he knew that Sai Shousho would fall and Kouyuu would reach out to catch him; he even knew that when he tripped the fat old geezer at that angle Kouyuu would surely grip nothing but his hair (wig); at the utmost Reishin thought Sai would simply fall with the wig still grasped in Kouyuu's hand, but never, _never_ in a thousand years could Reishin predict that the wig would fly out of his son's hand in a moment of excessive force and shock, and land directly on top of a burning candle. No, not in a million years could Reishin have foreseen something like that, could he _dare_ to hope for something like that; having the wig burned and Sai forced to leave the banquet early, without a wig and in the middle of roaring laughter that showed no sign of dying down. Oh, that was just too rich…

Kouyuu looked over at his father, at the evil, satisfied grin on his face, and shuddered. "Well, whatever it is, you have certainly exacted a very expensive revenge. I'm sure the gossip mill will not let this one pass easily."

At his words, the curvature on Reishin's lips suddenly smoothed out, and the expression in his eyes became unbelievably sharp.

Kouyuu squirmed uneasily under his father's gaze, wondering which part of his comment had angered his guardian.

Reishin's eyes narrowed as he hissed, very quietly, "Oh, but Kouyuu, I've only begun." There's no way he'd let Sai off with just a slight (not so slight) public embarrassment, oh no, not for a transgression as great as his…

That night, as Kouyuu laid on his bed, he wondered what it was that Sai Shousho had done to incite such an intense feeling of hatred from Reishin…


	3. Illness

When Kouyuu opened the door to his father's bedroom, the sight of Reishin mounted on top of Kijin greeted him. The latter was sprawled on the floor, with his father's fingers down, quite literally, his esophagus.

"…Eh?"

[ Flashback

This was the fifteenth time Kouyuu had passed through the same hallway, and, like the fourteen times before, there was not a sound to be heard from inside. He paused in front of a window between two columns. A breeze tumbled past him, ruffling his aquamarine hair as though a mother's gentle touch, but had not enough strength to rattle the window frames. The rice-paper panes remained impenetrable.

A wave of frustration clouded his eyes, and his fingers, slender almost to a point of frailty, balled into a fist.

_This is the worst! If you do not wish to see me, why bring me here at all? _

"Kouyuu-sama?"

Kouyuu let out a shaky breath that had long since lost its edge of resignation, and turned around.

"Kouyuu-sama, as I have informed you on three previous occasions, Danna-sama is otherwise engaged at present." A man, whom he recognized as Reishin's chief personal steward, said pompously with an exasperated wave of his hand. "He cannot receive you at the moment."

His eyes narrowed at the patronizing tone, but annoyance flared only for a moment across his finely chiseled features before his expression reverted back to that of an undisturbed pond. With an air of defiant nonchalance, Kouyuu retorted, "I was merely passing."

"Didn't I tell you that you are forbidden to impose any more visitations upon me while my current condition continues?" Reishin snapped when the flowing figure of his colleague strode quietly through the doorway, though his voice lacked the usual biting edge of his words due to feverish weakness.

"The fever must be encroaching upon your mental capacity if you think anything you can ever say will limit my actions, if I so wish to take them." Houju retorted with an elegantly flattened voice as he pulled up a chair beside Reishin's bed. "I saw that boy of yours again when I was passing your study. He seems quite attached to the second window. I've seen him staring at it, as though possessed, on at least three occasions. It's rather disturbing, frankly."

A small smile blossomed on Reishin's lips at the mention of his newly adopted son, but disappeared almost immediately when a wave of dry coughs seized him. Pain, from having coughed too much, too fast, and a spell of faintness washed so swiftly over him that for a moment his composed exterior threatened to shatter. With obvious effort, he slowed his shallow breaths and waved away Houju's soothing hand on his chest. "You really should go, Houju."

Ignoring Reishin's suggestion completely, Houju asked, "Why won't you see him?"

Reishin peered at Houju's unearthly beautiful countenance and stared deeply into the latter's eyes with an answer, which his friend read effortlessly—

_I don't want him to see me like this..._

With a small smirk playing on his lips, Houju heaved a sigh. Sometimes Reishin could be such a fool…

The thought was obviously divined without error by Reishin, as evident from the highly irritated tone of his voice when he declared, "I'm tired. Leave."

"The post of Senior Secretary of Civil Affairs," Houju commented nonchalantly as he rose to leave. "no matter how exalted, is not worth your life."

On his way toward the door, the usual, characteristic mocking laugh of his friend assaulted his ears.

"Of that," Reishin replied pointedly with clearly enunciated diction. "I'm well aware."

A cloud of noise was blossoming in his head, Reishin realized with annoyance as his fatigued mind was dragged through the breach of consciousness. The pounding in his head, made worse by the increasing volume of the cacophony, was almost unbearable as Reishin opened his eyes.

The fading light of dusk greeted him with shafts of orange sunshine filtering through the rice-paper windows, illuminating his bed chamber in an ethereal glow of dark gold that, thankfully, did not intensify his headache.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the noise outside.

"Why can't I see him?" The angry, slightly panting sound of Kouyuu's voice slithered through the door.

Reishin smirked humorlessly. _At least the boy has figured out I don't live in the study._

"As I have informed you numerous times already, Kouyuu-sama, Danna-sama cannot grant you audience right now." His personal steward replied haughtily, his patronizing tone quite disagreeable to Reishin.

"Why not? Why can't I see him right now?" Kouyuu barked back, his tone taking on a novel edge of desperation that led Reishin to suspect he was close to tears.

_Perhaps some things just can't be avoided…_

Laboriously, he raised himself from the comfort of his pillow into sitting position, with his back leaning uncomfortably against the headboard. After smoothing out his white sleeping robes so that they would at least appear presentable, he called out, "Let him in."

The command, though impossibly faint, silenced the argument outside immediately. A moment later, the small figure of his son advanced into the room.

Kouyuu strode heatedly into the master bed chamber, his mind fuming with such bottled rage that for a few moments, the paleness of Reishin's countenance and the languid, tired manner with which his father leaned against the headboard completely escaped him.

"If you do not wish to see me, why did you bring me here at all?" Kouyuu demanded furiously, the emotion that rimmed his tone completely at odds with his usually cold demeanor.

"I never said I did not wish to see you." Reishin replied calmly.

Kouyuu was about to bark out an almost automated retort when his whole body suddenly stilled as the truth of the statement, as well as Reishin's sickened appearance, dawned on him without warning.

The momentary silence between them was cut short by a sharp gasp.

"Rei-Reishin-sama!"

Holding his son's horrified gaze, and seeing a nameless fear that permeated those clear, gray eyes, Reishin suddenly wished he hadn't let Kouyuu see him.

It was only now that Kouyuu completely absorbed his father's appearance: the sickly pallor on the already alabaster complexion, the bloodless hue of those lips that had so casually stolen away his devotion, and the dark circles under the piercing hazel eyes that reached the deepest part of his soul with each passing glance. Without the slightest awareness of the fact, tears rose and flooded his eyes.

"If you are going to stand there and gape all day—" Reishin snapped irritatingly, but stopped short when he caught sight of the large drops of tears sliding down Kouyuu's ash-white cheeks.

Reishin repressed the violent urge to tremble.

Kouyuu, who didn't shed a single tear when he rained salted bath water on the unhealed cuts that almost covered the child's entire body, whose eyes were so hard when Reishin found him that it seemed no tears could ever fall from them again—This child…_his _child…was crying.

"An unfortunate case of exhaustion and an untimely onset of chills, according to Tou Roushi." Reishin offered evenly, his tone kept carefully light.

The relaxed tone of his voice did nothing, however, to stem the flow of Kouyuu's tears. For minutes the silence stretched on between them, with the tears gliding soundlessly down the boy's face. Then, without warning, Kouyuu dropped on his left knee and knelt before Reishin.

"My deepest apologies, Reishin-sama." _For having been an impetuous fool. _

Before Reishin could utter a word, Kouyuu rose and went swiftly out of the room.

He became aware that it was dinner time with the sound of the chamber door being opened. Languidly, he opened his eyes and was on the verge of announcing that he had no wish to take dinner, when he perceived the identity of the person that had entered.

"Good evening, Reishin-sama." Kouyuu greeted quietly as he set down a wooden tray on the bed stand. "Dinner is ready."

Reishin closed his eyes and heaved a soundless sigh, wondering if he should appreciate his son's tender sentiments or bemoan his fate of being practically force fed when the sight of food excited nothing in him except the desire to vomit.

Bracing himself for the inevitable dizziness that accompanied any moment that did not concur with the force of gravity, Reishin rose with the support of unsteady arms.

He was about two palms' length above the sheets when he felt a small hand on the right blade of his shoulder, and, seeming to decide that surprise was an excuse valid enough to abandon their laborious task, his arms gave out under him.

A soft grunt sounded beside his ear, and, Reishin noted with a mild sense of curiosity, the voice wasn't his.

When Reishin's eyes focused, an expanse of aquamarine covered half his vision. Upon further examination, he realized that Kouyuu was sprawled awkwardly on top of him with one knee folded on the bed and the entire upper half of his body draped over Reishin's chest.

With obvious confusion clouding his gray eyes, Kouyuu pushed himself up slightly, tickling Reishin's neck with his hair in the process. The left side of his face was burning, Kouyuu noted with perplexity. _Why would that be…?_

Then his eyes focused on Reishin's face, which was but inches away from his own, and forgot how to breathe.

With perhaps just a touch more amusement than was appropriate, Reishin watched the clumsy rise and fall of his son's chest, which came with its own set of strange crackling sound effects that resembled the cracking of lime cement that had been left too long in the heat.

Meeting Reishin's languid, elegant gaze, a faint blush exploded over Kouyuu's cheeks, and even the irregular movement of his lungs ceased.

"Kouyuu."

Kouyuu whirled back abruptly to his senses. He ejected himself from Reishin's bed an almost inhuman distance, and, with a deep burgundy on his cheeks that matched disturbingly closely with his name, sputtered, "Ah…..! I-I'm very, very sorry, Reishin-sama!"

Calmly and with perfect ease, which contrasted so strangely with the furious beating of his heart, Reishin rested his gaze on the stammering boy. "Although being crushed to death wasn't the end I had in mind, your attempt was rather pitiful."

"No, that wasn't…I…" Kouyuu stuttered with head bowed so low that it was in perfect parallel with the floor. If a hole could open up in the ground somehow, Kouyuu would offer a whole cartload of oranges to the gods as a token of gratitude.

Feeling a little embarrassed (an emotion almost unfathomable to him), Reishin swept his gaze toward the tray. Without having to spare a second glance, Reishin knew his cook had nothing to do with the food that was currently sitting in front of him.

"What are these? Pancakes?"

Kouyuu looked up quickly. Reishin was leaning on his elbow, examining a plate from the tray with amused puzzlement.

"They look a little too white to be fully cooked." Reishin commented almost absently. Almost.

After taking a clear look of the plate in question, whatever sense of mortified embarrassment that had plagued him a moment earlier cleared with a speed that was almost demonic. With shaking, clenched fists and countenance splashed claret with fuming rage, Kouyuu managed to squeeze out slowly through his tightly constricted throat, "No…they are manjuu."

"Ah…" Reishin crowed out at length, and, sweeping another doubtful glance toward the dinner tray, asked, "And these? Rice balls? Although, I don't recall my finances being in such poor condition as to necessitate brown rice being served during dinner."

Reishin redirected his glance toward his son, watching with a twisted sense of satisfaction as Kouyuu's cheeks took on a new shade of plum that rather resembled an eggplant.

Kouyuu glared at Reishin, trying with all available mental resources to convince himself that unleashing a full-throttle retort, on high volume, was neither proper nor viable; but there was nothing he could do about his hands, which were balled into shaking fists, or about the almost feral growl that issued faintly, but audibly from his throat.

Granted, his buns sunk _a little_ in the steamer, and his shuumai fell apart _slightly_, but…but…

"My apologies, Reishin-sama. I'll throw these out immediately." Kouyuu said flatly, still too angry to notice that a sliver of hurt had slipped into his eyes.

The spine of an intricately carved fan smacked away his hand as he grabbed the tray.

"My…I don't remember bringing home such a wasteful child!" Reishin exclaimed petulantly, and stuffed a shuumai gingerly into his mouth.

Kouyuu's rage dissipated abruptly as Reishin slowly and studiously chewed his food. His eyes shifted nervously between Reishin's face and the floor, the intensity of his apprehension rivaled only by that of his anger earlier. He had never made buns or shuumai before; the ingredients were too expensive.

"Is the food poisoned?"

His head snapped up, and regarded Reishin with a blank, incomprehensive stare.

"You are not eating. Is the food poisoned?" Reishin repeated with a smirk.

"Oh, no." Kouyuu mumbled as he pulled up a chair.

Half way through a mouthful of shuumai, Kouyuu's face blanched. He didn't steam them long enough; the chopped up pork at the center were a little undercooked. Nervously, he stole a furtive glance at Reishin. His father's face was as smooth as a ripple-less pond.

Praying that the shuumai was the only thing he mishandled, and afraid that Reishin would notice the oddity of his behavior, Kouyuu hastily grabbed a bun, and took a bite, which was, he realized a moment after, a highly regrettable action.

The bun was passably cooked through, though only by a very slim margin, but he didn't batter the filling well enough, so that there were clumps of sugar and half-mashed red beans in the red bean paste.

He risked a second glance at Reishin, who was currently stuffing the second half of a bun into his mouth with an expression of utter tranquility.

Perhaps the fever has disabled Reishin-sama's sense of taste…Kouyuu entertained the thought humorlessly as he gazed apprehensively at his father.

"Umm…Reishin-sama…" Taste buds or no, the impending possibility of food poisoning cannot be overlooked. "Perhaps..."

"I'm finished." Reishin announced abruptly.

Kouyuu looked down at the plates. Six shuumai and three buns, all gone.

With a strange mix of fearful awe and gratefulness churning in his stomach, Kouyuu began to clear away the tray.

"Make those for snacks tomorrow. Heaven knows you need the practice," Reishin commented smoothly as Kouyuu was about to step out the door, and watched, with a gratified smirk playing on his lips, Kouyuu's back stiffen. He didn't even need to look to see the furious blush that was surely blossoming on his son's supple cheeks. "Oh, and I want eggplant fillings for the shuumai!" he added quickly.

When the moon had passed its midpoint in the sky, Reishin heard the door of his chamber open for the third time that day. Small, light footsteps echoed in the darkness, and came to a halt right beside his bed.

Reishin did not stir.

After a soft ruffle of robes, his hand was taken by slender but willful fingers, the coolness of which softened the feverish heat just a touch, and he felt something round and fuzzy nestling against the curve of his waist.

A small, almost imperceptible smile curved on Reishin's lips, and, despite the fever, despite the mild pain in his stomach, he slept.

"I heard from Tou Roushi that you suffered a mild case of stomach ailment?" Houju asked as he swept gracefully into Reishin's bedroom during the afternoon a few days later.

"Hmm…did you." Reishin commented nonchalantly, setting aside the book he had been reading.

"If you are trying to drive yourself into an early grave, do take more drastic measures than a petty case of stomach disagreement. You'll go much quicker that way." Houju advised sarcastically while pouring himself a cup of mountain Oolong tea. "And since when do you eat shuumai as an afternoon tea snack?"

Suddenly, Reishin's indifferent gaze sharpened.

"Those are mine." He declared petulantly as he sat down at the table. "Feel free to unleash your beastly appetite on the chrysanthemum tea cakes, or the water lily sticky rice puddings, but don't touch the shuumai."

Houju stared contemplatively at Reishin for a second with one brow elegantly raised, then, without ever taking his eyes off of the latter, took a shuumai and stuffed it unceremoniously into his mouth.

For a few moments a deadly silence stretched between them.

"Why you…!" As though finally absorbing the shock, Reishin snapped abruptly to his senses and made to grab Houju's throat, the motion of which succeeding in toppling both onto the floor. "Spit it out! Spit it out!"

[ Flash Back Ends

Kouyuu stood utterly still in the doorway, gaping at what looked like an incredibly intimate moment between Reishin and Houju, and then, with a furious blush spreading rapidly across his cheeks, he stammered, "P-Please excuse my intrusion! I did not realize you were engaging—I-I mean…I mean…I'M VERY SORRY!"

And with the same abruptness that he had entered, Kouyuu slammed shut the bedroom door behind him.

"Hmm…I think there's a slight misunderstanding with your son…" Houju remarked airily, gazing at the spot that Kouyuu had occupied only moments before.

Reishin returned his gaze from the door to Houju, then growled, "Don't change the subject. Spit it out!"


	4. Drifting

"This must be the first time we've seen you since that little visit to your brother's house. How have you been, Reishin?" Yuushun greeted pleasantly as he and Houju leisurely approached the sitting figure of his friend at the far end of the archive.

Houju gave a soft snort at the mention of that particular embarrassing (and painful) incident over two weeks ago where they, instigated by Reishin, fell out of a tree while spying on Shuurei.

Reishin turned from the spectacle by which he was obviously enraptured, and directed his glance lazily at his advancing friends.

"Hmm…I have been satisfactorily well." Reishin replied with an air of lingering contemplation. "I trust no unbearable ailment has befallen your leg from that fall?"

"Oh, no, not at all. I thought that little adventure was quite refreshing." Yuushun replied with a calm smile as he took a seat across from Reishin.

"My arm still hurts from having your entire body weight land on top of it." Houju cut in flatly with an accusatory glare directed at Reishin.

The young Kou clan leader swept a casual gaze over the ethereal beauty of Houju's countenance, and sighed with an innocuous smile, "Mmm…how amusing…I don't quite recall soliciting your opinion…"

"Why you…!"

"Who is that, Reishin?" Yuushun cut in before Reishin and Houju could launch a full-throttle, and very childish, argument.

Reishin halted the insult that he was about to throw at Houju and followed Yuushun's eyes, which rested on the object of his fascination for the last hour.

"Kouyuu," Reishin called out clearly, his voice saturated with a tinge of elegant maturity that Yuushun and Houju had never heard before.

Houju looked over. A boy, probably seven or eight of age with willful tufts of aquamarine hair, sat quietly in front of the end of a bookshelf, his face half obscured by the open book in his hand. Upon hearing Reishin's call, the boy looked up with an almost jerking motion. As soon as he realized that he had company besides Reishin, a swift, ephemeral expression of fear passed over his eyes, and Houju marveled at the fact that anything but adoration could dance in the boy's eyes after seeing the cursed but overpowering beauty of his countenance.

"Come here."

The boy hesitated, his eyes cautiously trained on the two strangers, but a quick glance at Reishin's waiting figure seemed sufficient to overcome that reluctance, and obediently, he stood up and strode toward them.

"This is Tei Yuushun and Kou Houju," Reishin waved his hand casually at his two friends. "we are colleagues."

The boy looked over at the two men with an almost empty wariness, and bowed respectfully. "It is my honor to meet you, Tei Yuushun-sama, Kou Houju-sama."

"Yuushun, Houju, this is my adopted son, Li Kouyuu."

An unnatural silence rang after Reishin's words.

Kouyuu's eyes were kept carefully fixed on the tiled floor.

"_Adopted_ _son_?" Yuushun asked uncertainly. "I was not aware that you were…uh…when did this occur?"

"A week ago." Reishin replied airily.

"Uhh…it is a pleasure to meet you, Kouyuu. Would you mind playing outside for a moment while we discuss some things with your father?" Yuushun asked with a forcefully compiled smile.

Kouyuu did not move or look at Yuushun, instead, his gaze jerked almost involuntarily to Reishin, silently inquiring his order.

Reishin gave a nod. Kouyuu turned and went out of the archive.

"Reishin! Raising a son is not child's play!" Yuushun begun as soon as he thought Kouyuu was out of earshot.

Reishin, whose eyes had trailed after the diminishing figure of the boy, returned his glance at Yuushun, and for a moment, the older man was overtaken by the seriousness locked in those honeyed hazel orbs.

"I'm aware of that, Yuushun."

Houju, who had remained silent during the entire exchange, studied Reishin, and now, looking at the unprecedented gravity shining in his friend's eyes, asked, "If I tell you now that you are not yet fit to be a father, would your decision be swayed?"

Reishin switched his gaze sharply at Houju, and replied firmly, "No."

* * *

"Kouyuu doesn't ever mingle with the other children, have you noticed?" Yuushun asked as he was having afternoon tea with Reishin and Houju in the Western pavilion.

"Houju made no friends as a child, yet I daresay that he turned out quite decently. Any flaws he has, of which there are many, is purely by fault of his natural temperament and not of lack of friends." Reishin retorted.

Surprisingly, Houju did not yield to Reishin's obvious, and quite childish, efforts at annoying him. "That's different. Kouyuu and I are different."

"Of course. No one will ever accuse Kouyuu of being a two-face, with a beautiful countenance but a most unpleasant personality, which is more than I can say for you."

"…Kou…Reishin!"

Reishin spared a glance at the darting figure of his son in the lily grove not far off above the rim of his porcelain cup. Kouyuu was wandering, seemingly aimlessly, with a book in his hand, his figure infinitely alone and fragile in the shadowed sunlight.

"He doesn't need them." Reishin replied casually as he set down his cup. "They are not worth his time."

Houju sighed and rolled his eyes. "The boy has no friends. It's not healthy."

Without taking his eyes off of Kouyuu, Reishin retorted, "He's fine with the way things are. I will not force anything upon him."

* * *

"Hello, Kouyuu." Yuushun greeted when he caught the passing figure of Reishin's son in the hallway.

The fleeting figure halted his steps and turned to him. Yuushun knitted his brows.

"How did you get that bruise on your temple?"

The question seemed to alarm Kouyuu, as he quickly backed away from Yuushun and averted his eyes. "It will go away in a few days."

"That's not what I asked, Kouyuu." Yuushun asked, louder this time, unaware that doing so was enough to shake Kouyuu's fragile composure because of his mere association with Reishin. "How did you get that bruise?"

"Just some son of a courtier who happened to pass by the garden."

* * *

"Relocations of four civil officials to the periphery provinces, and dismissal of two officials of the lower gentry—even as the leader of the Kou clan, don't you think you have advanced well beyond the limitations of your power?" Houju questioned evenly as Reishin sipped his tea across the table.

Reishin played with the china cup absently, gazing with willful contemplation at the falling snow outside the bamboo embroidered window.

It wasn't as though he did not see the dark purple bruise on Kouyuu's wrist every time the boy extended his hand; it wasn't as though he didn't notice that Kouyuu had trouble putting weight on his left leg because of the bruise on his ankle; it wasn't as though Reishin knew these things and did not see the strangeness in them—that Kouyuu was eerily _fine_ with it all.

Indeed, one would have to be a fool to think that the bruises that seemed to appear one after another magically on Kouyuu's body had escaped Reishin's notice, despite the fact that he never questioned the boy about them. After all, what were spies for…

"Only impotents could raise such vulgar children. It is only a matter of time before they are weeded out of the imperial power struggle. I'm merely doing the court a favor by expediting that process." He replied with a touch of impatient cruelty in his tone.

"And I suppose bullying your son constitutes vulgarity?" Houju pressed on.

"I'm already elevating their intelligence unjustly by calling it vulgarity, when toying with Kouyuu is nothing short of suicidal ignorance." Reishin huffed haughtily as he redirected his gaze sharply at Houju.

The latter sighed softly and looked away.

Despite the fact that Reishin was still a relatively low ranking official, despite the fact that he still lacked any solid support at court, he was still the head of the Kou clan, and only an idiot would think light of the consequences of touching his precious son.

"You know it is your fault that the other children make a sport of Kouyuu." Houju said quietly. "You throw him in a pack of infantile wolves that were bred in the suffocating environment of court politics, yet you do not give him the status backings necessary to defend against them! It is because you act as though he is but the product of a fleeting fancy that they toy with him like a prey, and it is for that reason that he does not fight back!"

Reishin held Houju's gaze for a moment, noting with a mild sense of curiosity the anger in the latter's eyes, and then said very quietly, "He does not fight back, Houju, because he chooses not to."

_He may choose not to fight, that is a choice I will allow, because I will fight for him, until such times come when he is ready to fight on his own. _

* * *

Reishin dipped his brush in the ink well, feigning unawareness of his son's persistent, mystified eyes on the pale jade seal sitting on his desk.

At least the boy had taste, Reishin thought with a mental smile, even he thought that seal was something of exceptional craftsmanship, beautiful, even, as things rarely were after having acclimated oneself to Houju's face.

He finished the document with one last elegant stroke of his brush and put it aside, his eyes resting calmly and nonchalantly on the boy. Kouyuu's eyes had long since detached from the jade seal, as Reishin knew they would. Like him, Kouyuu did not like to display his likes and dislikes, although Reishin was sure that their reluctance stemmed from completely different sources.

"Have another seal made and delivered in two days." Reishin said casually to his steward in the master study after dinner.

* * *

Kouyuu studied the jade seal, peering at it meticulously, with his chin resting at an uncomfortable stoop on the desk, as though something extraordinary might spring from it. He had woken up to it sitting quietly beside his pillow that morning, since then it had sat on his great pine wood desk, with his gaze fastened unblinkingly on it.

The glitter of the midday sun tumbled into the room gracefully through the open window, from which a faintly cool draft occasionally wafted through, and when its light fell on the intricate carvings on the seal, the pale jade seemed to emit a most aloof but majestic glow.

Gingerly, Kouyuu picked it up and overturned it. At the bottom, enclosed in a circle, were three characters, the elegance of which, like the person to which they belonged, was peerless.

Kou Reishin.

A small, tentative smile fluttered on Kouyuu's lips. Momentary. Ephemeral.

He put down the jade seal gently back on the pine desk, his motion slow and filled with an almost ritualistic reverence, and then removed the round porcelain cover of the ink well, revealing the thick, expensive vermilion in the ink well. Vermilion ink, the rich magenta hue of which none can rival, can only be used by the most powerful members of the Kou clan.

Kouyuu dipped the seal carefully but firmly into the ink well, and, loosening his robe so that his chest was exposed, pressed the seal hard against the place where his heart lay beating furiously beneath.

After a moment he withdrew the seal. A soft breeze passed over him, leaving a refreshingly cool sensation where the wet ink had pressed against his skin. He walked over to the wash basin. Reflected in the calm surface of the water was his snow white robe and naked torso, where upon the flawless stretch of porcelain-like skin was a single scarlet circle.

Red, like Reishin's name. Red like blood, as though compensating for what they did not share.

Kouyuu stared, seemingly mystified, at his reflection, the awe in his eyes saturated with childish innocence and some deeper, intense emotion that should never appear in the gaze of a child.

* * *

A knock interrupted the smooth flow of Reishin's brush across the parchment. He looked up and granted entry with a voice laced with just a barely detectable trace of fatigue.

A maid entered and gave a bow. Reishin saw a white under robe hanging on her arm.

"Good evening, danna-sama. I found a blood stain on the under robe Kouyuu-sama wore yesterday." The maid informed respectfully and offered up the white robe on her arm.

A slither of worry entered his mind. Reishin took the fabric from her and, letting it drape to the ground in a hang, found the bright round stain where the cloth would cover the chest. Relief flooded him. The hue of the stain was too bright, too fresh to be from blood, which would have turned a brownish color in mere hours.

"Shall I fetch a physician?" The main inquired when Reishin said nothing.

Kouyuu's chief attendants have all been informed to watch the boy carefully for any signs of injury, but to never confront him about them. They were to report to Reishin, who then would tactfully present the remedy, or in some cases, the physician, at an opportune moment.

Reishin held the robe close to his nose and took a quick whiff. The slightly pungent scent of vermillion swirled faintly in the air.

"That won't be necessary." Reishin replied after a short pause. "You are dismissed."

Reishin leaned back in his chair, the robe flung unceremoniously atop the parchments on his desk. If one examined the stain close enough under the bright candle flame, one could discern the faint characters impressed on the fabric.

_What a foolish boy…_ Reishin thought as a soft sigh escaped his lips.

* * *

Kouyuu looked up from the book on the table at the sound of the steady tapping of a cane. Moments later, Yuushun, seeming to be pleasantly surprised at finding him in the archive, stood smiling at him.

"Good afternoon, Kouyuu."

"Good afternoon, Yuushun-sama." The tone with which Kouyuu greeted him was still rather flat, but the guardedness he usually employed against adults had dissipated.

"What are you reading?" Yuushun asked as he took a seat across from the boy.

Kouyuu held out the book as he answered, "The Imperial Collection of History, volume III."

But Yuushun was not looking at the thick, slightly dusty volume, instead, his attention was transfixed on the dark bruise on Kouyuu's extended arm.

Kouyuu, puzzled by the strange expression of worry in Yuushun's suddenly frowning face, soon realized that the he had forgotten about the new bruise on his right arm. Quickly, he retracted his hands, hiding the blaring purple under the sleeve of his silk robe, and lowered his gaze.

"How did you get that?" Yuushun asked, his tone mixed with concern and anger.

Kouyuu slid his eyes to a point on the floor somewhere to his right. "I fell."

He heard Yuushun's constrained breaths, as though trying to control a fury the origin of which Kouyuu only vaguely grasped. Then, Yuushun sighed, heavy and poignant.

Reishin, who had waltzed from the department of Civil Affairs to the archive with hopes of having tea with his beloved elder brother, stopped abruptly in front of the archive entrance as the sound of Yuushun's voice drifted through the doorway.

"Why don't you fight back, Kouyuu?"

Reishin quickly hid himself behind one of the columns at the mention of his son's name, and listened.

"Why would I?" He heard Kouyuu's voice at length, his voice soft but tinged with a trace of annoyed defiance.

"Because if you don't they will never stop. Even if you think you might not win, you should still fight. That way they will know not to do it again."

There was a long moment of silence. Reishin wanted to interrupt; he knew without having to look that the conversation agitated Kouyuu.

Kouyuu looked at Yuushun for a second. Then averted his eyes again as he replied softly, "Whether I fight or not, whether I win or not, has no consequence."

"Why?"

[_Insolent child! This'll teach you! How dare a homeless brat like you strike my son!_

[_What a disgrace! Loitering around like freeloader! Ahh…you confer misfortune to my child through your dirty hands! Never seen such a shameless child!_

Kouyuu took a deep, shuddering breath, and explained slowly, "If I fought back and lost, they would just hit harder. If I won, they would go home and tell their parents, and then either their father would come and beat me, or their mother would come and scold me. It's always like that."

Yuushun peered contemplatively at Kouyuu, at the boy's carefully averted eyes in which the reflected detachment seemed to hide something childlike and infinitely vulnerable.

What wounded Kouyuu were not fists; it was something much more basic.

At length, he asked slowly, "Do you not think that…Reishin would scold the other children for hitting you, just as the fathers of those children who lost against you?"

Behind the column, Reishin pricked his ears and listened hard.

Kouyuu looked at Yuushun for an instant, but turned his eyes to the floor immediately. Yet the fear that passed briefly over his eyes had not escaped Yuushun's watchful glance.

"Reishin-sama…has done enough for me. I do not wish to trouble him with something so trivial."

The expensive silk of Reishin's maroon court robe twisted fiercely in his grasp. An inexplicable fury, the origin of which he couldn't fully decipher, overtook him.

Yuushun studied Kouyuu carefully. The boy had lied. The fear that had crossed his countenance, it was the fear of being disappointed, fear of upsetting the delicate balance in his relationship with the only parental figure he had, fear of facing the truth of the precious reality he had so carefully constructed,

Reishin turned away angrily from behind the column to leave. The unexpected countenance of Shouka greeted him.

With unusual gravity in his gaze, Shouka whispered, "Children, no matter how intelligent, must be told that they are loved, Reishin."


End file.
